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Check out my other blogs: Sow What Journey http://sarahsowwhat.tumblr.com www.100actsofgreen.org As a homeschooling Girl Scout I am often doing my Journey's as part of my school work. Which means that I have to plan and implement them myself. I have been asked to share this with others. My first blog was with the Senior Sow What Journey. Since I plan to earn 5 other Journeys -- this will be the site for all information.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Family Legacy Badges

Over the last several months I have worked very hard to earn the IP's that my mom earned while she was an older girl  scout(184-1987).  It has been fun - so much fun I have asked her to get extras of those badges for my daughters and for my younger sister.  Since I don't know how many girls I will have or my siblings -- we agreed to get enough for 4 girls in the next generation to get our "family" legacy badges.
So if you are trying to figure out WHY you would want any of the retired badges -- think about it.  Were you a girl scout?  Are their badges that both you and your daughter have earned?  My sister is a brownie and she is so excited to get the Junior and Older girl IP's that we have purchased for her to earn. 
I really wish I could earn the ones that my grandmother had earned as an Intermediate Scout with the 1947 handbook - -but, I don't want to pay 10.00 - 60.00 for one of the badges.
My mom has written letters to the "future" girl scouts in our family and made copies of the badge requirements.  I am really excited about our family legacy badges and wanted to share the idea with other moms/aunts and grandma's -- or future grandma's.
Sarah Young

Monday, May 21, 2012

Session 9 & 10 - Celebrating the Circle of Sisterhood

            Making my Brownie oven, and making a brownie, the bridging ceremony

When I heard that my troop was going to hold a Court of Awards Ceremony, and Bridging ceremony, I knew that I wanted to help with the bridging ceremony for the Daisy's to Brownies. Because ceremonies are a big part in Girl Scouts. And when I was searching for the perfect Brownie Bridging ceremony idea, I found the cutest little ceremony script. I call it the, Brownie Baking Bridging Ceremony. Because you are supposed to “bake” the Daisy’s into Brownies.
   So I had to make an oven…this was the hard part. I tried to find instructions on how to make one but found none. Then my mom came up with a BRILIANT! idea. We took an old cardboard, three leaf display board. Cut a little “oven door” in the front, I made some knobs for the “on” and “off” as well as a temperature knob. Then, ta da, I made a Brownie oven!
The script was also a hard thing to find, but I found one. After I tweaked it a little bit, I was finished. I had the oven, and the script, and I also had to make two little brown paper bag Brownie Vests for the two Daisys that are bridging. It was a fun process and I can’t wait for Sunday to come, because I love to see Girl Scouts getting excited about being a part of the Sisterhood of Girl Scouting.   
This celebration will be important to all of us.  We each have apart in the ceremony - it has been a wonderful year working with these younger scouts - watching them smile and get excited as they learn a new "Girl Scout" way.  I have enjoyed working with them on Thinking Day and talking about Girl Guides - of course making smores. 
Although my sister is in the troop - I feel like I have 15 sisters and I love it.  Thank you Ms. Jen and Ms. Kim for allowing me to come along for the trip.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Session 8 - Making sisterhood your story

            I am finishing this amazing journey, and it was a fun one. Leaning about myself and others, and what a true friend is. As my last part of this journey I am reading a biography on Juliette Gordon Low, and it is quite an interesting book.
            When I started reading it, I thought about how much fun it would be to do a two person “play” on the life of Juliette Gordon Low. So reading this biography has more than one purpose, this book is going to help me write my script. I have decided to have my sister help me in the presentation of the play. She will be portraying Juliette as a child and a teen, and once the time has come for her to get married (Juliette), I will finish off her “life”, and talk about all the interesting things she’s done as an adult…including founding Girl Scouts!
            As well as reading this book, I am also going to be going to Juliette’s house in less than a week! I’m excited to go because this can help me more with my “research”, though I would hardly call it that. I would call it more like a treasure hunt, each fact, a beautiful jewel.
             My goal would be to perform this twice in the next year -- once in December at the council Candal Lighting event and again at ACC in March as part of Women's History Month.  Now if I could only find her "hat"  -- I love the hat she wears as part of her uniform.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Session 7 - Sisterhood Knows No Boundaries

Advocacy - some folks are paid to be an advocate, others just do it because it is the right thing to do.  Last month - the movie "The Lorax" was released.  I went with my sister on opening day.  As I reflect and think about this part of the Journey - I realize that The Lorax was an advocate - he would have been a GREAT Girl Scout.  My mom serves on the city of Pfllugerville Tree Board and in definately an advocate for youth involvement in the community.

It has been a year and a half since Pflugerville dissolved the Arborist position. And since then there has not been good maintenance of the trees of Pflugerville. There are many I see that need to be remulched, or unstaked, or de-gatorbagged. No one in Pflugerville is willing to step up and speak for the trees.

But I will. I decided to become Pflugerville’s Lorax. And to do so, I have applied for the Pflugerville Parks and Rec commission, so that I can speak for the trees where it counts - with those who make the decisions. I want everyone to know that having an Arborist is very important and that dissolving the position completely was a very bad idea. The trees need a speaker, and I will be able to help.

Session 1: GIRLtopia: What’s It All About? - Top 10 qualities, values, skills, or talents

Session 1:  GIRLtopia:  What’s It All About? - Top 10 qualities, values, skills, or talents

Visionary – one having unusual foresight and imagination

Top 10 qualities, values, skills, or talents
  1. Good communication between two or more people
  2. Quick to listen and slow to speak
  3. Ability to bend the rules
  4. The ability to inspire others
  5.  Follow their thoughts regardless of what others think
  6. Dedicated to the vision
  7. In it for the life
  8. dreamer – someone who can dream beyond the ability of others
  9. lifelong learner
  10. Well established sense of right or wrong – moral compass

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Session 1: GIRLTopia: What is it all about?

                This journey is a chance to imagine a perfect world for girls.  I will e creating this vision thru “art” – which for me is photography and poetry. 
            As I look toward my “vision” I am working on an IP called Global Girls. This badge is an old one so it has been discontinued. I am very glad that my mother found this badge for me because it has helped me see that around the world, not all girls are treated as “respectfully” as they are in the US.
            Working towards this badge has “enlightened” me about the issues going on in third world countries such as Afghanistan and India, and their actions toward, not only women, but girls. I learned while working on this badge that in Afghanistan the people there marry off women at such a young age. Most girls are married off at age 8, and then when they reach puberty age such as 11 or 13, they are transferred from their family’s home and village to their husband’s home and village.
            It is not illegal in Afghanistan to marry off girls at such a young age, but in India it is. The law says that the a girl cannot marry until she is 18, due to health issues and diseases that can be obtained if married and exposed to sexual intercourse before they are physically ready for it. But even though the law says so, the people still marry of six year olds and eight years olds. This happens mostly for “family honor” or it is done to mend a feud between families, or even because a man will pay money to marry a young girl. The ceremony of “binding” is done usually in the wee hours of morning when others are asleep. Many people are caught, but not many stay in jail. In both countries this is the decision of the fathers, brothers, uncles – basically the men of the family.  The girls and mom’s have NO say in the decision. Men in third world countries live like kings, while the women have to strive to survive under them.
            As a senior scout – creating a vision of a Utopian society for girls – I feel that if more girls and women around the world are educated about how other girls/women live that it will make it easier for women in those countries to work on getting their own voice.  I feel those countries would benefit from female leaders and those girls would have a voice.  I even added my voice to the WAGGS violence against girls campaign.  http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/take_action/violence -- “In an ideal world for girls, the world will be more ideal for everyone.”

            In the girl “book” for GirlTopia – they refer to Juliette Gordon Low as a True GIRLtopia Visionary --  “I want to appeal to every Girl Scout,” she said, “to  . . . help to make a newer and better world.”

            If you would like to learn more about this subject through this badge, go to http://www.scoutingweb.com/scoutingweb/Documents/Global%20Girls.pdf 

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Session 6 - Mission Sisterhood Journey

As I wrap up my Mission Sisterhood Journey – I am working on Sisterhood Knows No Boundaries, Making Sisterhood Your Story and Celebrating the Circle of Sisterhood all at the same time.
I found the best way to learn about Sisterhood and boundaries was to look at where we have been in the last 100 years.  In the past two months I have visited two different “Girl Scouting through the years”, exhibits. The first one that I visited was following the 100th Anniversary at the Texas Capitol – we went to the George Washington Carver Museum, and it was a rather interesting one. It had some of the different uniforms, the handbooks, the badge books, and even some of the merchandise. Then there was a wall dedicated to women that made a difference in the Central Texas area that were Girl Scouts. One of my favorite ones that I read was on Etta Moore, partly because she is currently the CEO of Girl Scouts of Central Texas, and also maybe because I know her. I enjoyed the museum and the exhibit.
            The other exhibit that I went to was the small one at the Girl Scouts of Central Texas Program Center. It was smaller, but it was also very interesting. I enjoyed looking at the different uniforms, thinking, “wow why don’t we still have those?!”. I also enjoyed, again, looking and comparing their handbooks and badge books to my own that I currently have (I have the new orange senior badge book as well as the old one). One thing that I will always remember from that exhibit would be the Swap Hat. That hat was full of Swaps; there was not an empty square on there anywhere! I even saw a mouse trap on the hat, what a crazy swap. I also enjoyed looking at the “Edge” exhibit, looking at where it is, and where it started. And one of the reasons why I thought it was interesting was because my mom started the program. I encourage other Girl Scouts to also visit this exhibit. 

Sunday, May 13, 2012

One Journey at a Time?

Who says you only have to do one journey at a time? As I am finishing up the Mission Sisterhood journey, I am rapidly beginning the next journey Girltopia. As part of my beginning of Girltopia I have to research and write about a couple of female artists.
Juliette Gordon Low was not only the founder of Girl Scouts, but she was also an artist. Juliette loved art; she did many different types of art as well. She sculpted and painted. A famous painting done by Juliette was her self portrait.
I do not know much about Juliette Gordon Low as an artist, but I am going to visit her home in eleven days. While I am there I will learn and study her life as not only a scout, but also a painter, and sculptor. I wish to create a painting that portrays scouting throughout the years, and I hope that while I am there, I learn a little more about her time period, and her important role in Girl Scouting.
As well as studying and learning about Juliette’s life and era, I will also work on 4 IP’s that you are only able to work on and earn in Savanna, Georgia. IP’s such as Daisy’s neighborhood, and Savanna’s safari. I look forward to this trip, and I will post about my experience, what I learned and what I did.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Mission Sisterhood - Session 5 - Fit for the mission

This journey has helped me in my friendships and “acquaintances” but also with my health and physical well being too. This journey has encouraged me to start my day early and to end my day early.  When I started this journey -- my goal was to start rock climbing with my cousin on a weekly basis.  I am still planning to do some outdoor rock climbing this fall - there are three trips I want to do.  I realized that I don't have the upper body strength I need to make that happen.
            One of the things that I have to do for Mission Sisterhood was a fitness log. For the past few days I have been getting up at 6:00am, and doing my exercise until 6:30am, and by the time I’m done with breakfast and walking the dog (6:30-7:00) and piano practice (7:00-8:00), by 8 ‘o’ clock I’ve started my math. And most days by 1:30pm I’m done with work for the day.
           I am doing pushups, situps, pull ups and will start an upper body workout next week doing three different types of pushups.  I think I need to find some finger exercises too.
            Doing this each day has made me a pleasant person to be around. Meaning that I go to bed early because I’m tired and then get up early because I’m rested. Then for the rest of the day I feel good because I’m getting things done because my morning was productive.   
     I am also working on my friendships.  I realize that sometimes this means I actually have to pick up the phone and call someone.  Or I might need to plan a time to get together.  As a homeschooler - it is WORK to keep and make friends.